Recently, the Commissioner for the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries released an advisory notice to its constituents stating that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) visited an Alabama business to conduct an investigation. Further, the advisory cautioned Alabama employers to ensure their I-9 and E-Verify documents are compliant and in order as required by federal and Alabama law.

We obtained confirmation from ICE and our other sources that this event is not an isolated ICE enforcement audit, but is part of a new wave of enforcement activity nationwide. Usually, they will audit anywhere between 500 and 1,000 employers in each of these initiatives. Now is the time to get ready for an ICE audit.